Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the taxpayer propping up a business sector, the question for investors is whether the scheme's arrival means now is the time to buy into listed builders.

Under the initiative, the state and the builder will guarantee part of the mortgage on a new build property, reducing the risks for the lender - and so enabling the return of home loans requiring as little as a 5pc deposit.

It is important to note that the scheme, intended to support some 100,000 property sales, is very clearly aimed at boosting the housebuilding sector. If the Government simply wanted to jump-start the housing market, it would apply to all types of housing, not just new build.

The rationale is that stimulating housebuilding is a sensible way of boosting wider economic growth, as it is a labour-intensive industry which by its nature is UK-focused.

The Government has pinned its flags to the mast with this initiative which means there is political will to make it work. The thinking is that lending to the new build slice of the housing market could rise by 10pc.

No surprise then that seven housebuilders were part of the scheme at its launch: Barratt, Bellway, Bovis, Linden Homes (part of Galliford Try), Persimmon, Redrow and Taylor Wimpey. Crest Nicholson will join in soon.

The lenders, with less to gain and more regulatory and practical hoops to jump through to launch their NewBuy products, were not out in the same force. Still, the worry that the banks would price these new products so that even with a small deposit required they would look unattractive to the consumer did not materialise.

Some of the products unveiled offer interest rates under the 5pc mark, below the level at which the industry worried demand would start to suffer. In the same vein early indications have been that demand will be strong, with some 28,000 people registering their interest in the scheme.

The upshot is that the major housebuilders look ready to benefit from a marked rise in sales volumes, which makes them more attractive to Questor.

It is true that the advent of the scheme has been well flagged, meaning many in the markets were well aware that this boost was on the horizon.

However Questor believes there is long term-value in the sector, although its volatility means it is not for the faint-hearted.

The UK is structurally short of housing, lacking the swathes of empty homes which can be seen in areas of the US and Ireland where housing stock was overbuilt during the boom.

Of course, the reality behind the truism that housebuilders have adapted to the "new normal" of a stagnant housing market and are busy repairing their margins is that the various builders are in widely different places along this journey of recovery.

Questor remains a fan of Bovis Homes and Barratt Developments, having recently tipped both these shares for a buy.

Persimmon, which has promised to return £1.9bn to shareholders over the next decade, also appeals for this certainty.